Vacation on the beach musings, Part II: Invasion of the stinging jellyfish

Observations about jellyfish seem appropriate on National Sushi Day, although this is sushi that is toxic.

On this day at the beach, folks waded into the water, then suddenly began slapping their legs and heading for shore, then pointing to creatures in the sand.

"Something is biting and they are everywhere."

One frequent beachgoer informed they were tiny jellyfish that often appear suddenly and sting whatever touches them — although the sting is minor, only lasts a few minutes and requires more of a gentle rub that hospitalization.

There's a lesson in this. Some of these jellyfish were the size of fingernail — they resembled a mini version or those detergent pods and were clear and globby like some sea creature had roamed the beach with major allergies.

Yet, within minutes, these tiny little monsters almost completely cleared a mile or so of beach with wader and walkers like someone had just pooped in the pool.

Do jellyfish exist just to look cute and torture beachgoers?

However, they fit nicely into the ecological system because they are food for large fish and sea turtles. Maybe, to a shark, swordfish or tuna, they are the marine equivalent of Gummy Bears.

And one of their main predators are bigger jellyfish, the marine version of the modern banking system.

Maybe they ought to have Jellyfish Daze, along the line of Toad Suck. Would make for an interesting T-shirt or a dull race. Some of these little monsters live only a few hours.

Maybe it's a solution to combat terrorism. Let the Coast Guard collect large numbers (they reproduce fast) and drop them into terrorist cells.

In any case, on this morning at the beach a bunch (a bloom they call it) of teeny-tiny jellyfish put a lot of folks in a jam.